


Grizzly Bear

by CherryBerryKomainu



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood, Evil Molly, False Memories, Found Family, Gen, Gio has a bad time, Guns, Implied death/murder, Kinda, Manipulation, Molly gets turned into an adult, Multichapter, People get hurt and bleed, Swearing, Uncertainty, Violence, Zora accidentally gets a sister, angst with an ending, badass Molly Blyndeff, in like, kidnapping???, lying, not sure how happy it will be, the worst way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23034175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryBerryKomainu/pseuds/CherryBerryKomainu
Summary: When Molly gets caught in the middle of a fight between Ramsey, Percy, and Giovanni VS Zora, things get way more confusing then they ought to be.Now a new(ish) enemy is on the loose, Zora is saddled with a partner she doesn’t even remember having, and Molly’s friends have to find a way to save her from herself!
Comments: 37
Kudos: 94





	1. Old Yeller

Molly isn’t sure how exactly this all happened. One minute, she was walking home from school, and the next, Giovanni, Percy, a man with a golden eye, and a smelly, poncho wearing woman are duking it out in the streets, Epithets at the ready.

It feels so abnormally out of place, in this calm, sunny park area where little kids play on the swings and in the playground, where teens meet up and people walk their dogs. Everyone present books it, Molly had been muting her surroundings as she knew that just walking by the park was going to be too loud for her. 

But the crash of someone landing poorly in a tree, a miniature medieval tower suddenly rocketing up from the ground, and someone else crashing into the swingset (and breaking the chain off of one of the swings in the process) are loud and sudden enough to grab Molly’s attention. It’s the natural instinct of your mind and body to pour cold water over you when you suddenly find yourself in a dangerous situation, assuring that you’re on your toes.

‘Run,’ the instincts demand. ‘Hide and run.’

Molly takes cover behind a tree--someone has a GUN oh jeez--and notices Percy and Giovanni not too-too far away from her--they seem to be… working together?--Along with a man who reminds Molly of a rat. She can also see the back of the fourth person to enter the scene turned to her. 

Something about her gives Molly an uncomfortable feeling, urging her to escape by any means necessary. There’s a large open space between her and the closest way out of the park. Sprinting would alert the poncho wearing woman to her presence, so Molly casts a silence bubble around herself and begins to slowly sneak towards safety.

Giovanni notices her for a hot second before returning his attention to the enemy, perfectly masking any hint that he even saw her.

Percy, she isn’t able to do that. Upon seeing the young girl she only met a week ago in this sort of situation, she gasps slightly, eyes widening, and that’s all it takes to make the scary lady turn around.

“Oh, ya worried ‘bout this kid lady?” The stinky woman flashes a feral smile upon setting her sights on Molly.

And before anyone can speak, the woman grabs Molly by the front of her bear hoodie, hoisting her up in front of her, in front of Percy, the rat man, and Giovanni.

“Jesus Christ Zora!” The rat man shouts. “That’s a little kid-put her down. She doesn’t have anything to do with this!” 

“Oh ah think she does, Ramsey,” ‘Zora’ purrs, noting how both Percy and Giovanni lower their weapons, changing tune from offensive to defensive in a flash. “Haha!” She chuckles, then lets go of Molly’s hoodie just to grab her by the neck, causing the young girl to lose her focus, the dumb down she was going to use on Zora fizzling to nothing in her hand. “Man, kid! Talk about unlucky!” The Cowgirl sneers. “All the people in tha world ta know an you know the three people I’m tryin to get rid of?” 

“Put her down, Salazar.” Percy’s voice is a calm one only taken up by a person hiding both worry and rage within them. “She’s just a child, no threat to you.” 

At the same time Giovanni screams in rage, holding back the frantic worried calls for his minion. Can’t let that secret loose in front of the cop.

“Hmm…” Zora twirls a gun around with her free hand. “Yer right there, Percy,” she says. “A lil’ chickadee like this is just dead weight in a situation like this… why don’t we fix that?”

The cold barrel of a gun presses against the side of Molly’s head, and just like that the girl loses awareness of herself and the world around her. All that exists is the gun to her head, the yells and whatnot muffled by nothingness. She stops trying to pry Zora’s hand off her neck, letting her own arms hang limply at her sides and, surprisingly, her breath starts to slow to calm exhales instead of speedy gasps. She thinks she hears Zora say something.

And then her head explodes in pain-

———

“Let’s even the playing field for her, m’kay?” Zora keeps her voice smug and confident over the loud jumbled mess that is the three cowards growling demands at her as if they aren’t cornered.

She presses her gun against the kid’s head, biting back a laugh as her opponents squawk and gasp in shock. As subtle as possible she imbues Sundial into her bullet-- What? She’s not a monster!-- and sets it to 9 years. That oughta be enough to fix this little moral issue. 

“Don’t you dare even think about--“ the soup boy yells the loudest.

“Shut up,” Zora replies, and pulls the trigger.

BANG


	2. Sun Bear

A stunned and grief-stricken silence fills the air. Percy, Giovanni, and Ramsey look at Zora in horror as she drops Molly’s motionless body to the ground.

But then, Molly starts to glow a familiar color. Her crumpled body begins to age forward, clothes and hair changing with her. Stormy, dark, forest green, almost hypnotizing eyes snap open as a now older Molly gasps and tries to stand up, wobbling and settling for kneeling as she regains her bearings.

Her hair lacks the marshmallow stars she usually has. Now the only ‘accessory’ in her hair is a familiar-looking heart symbol coloured gold. Her own hair is cut short, just above her jaw, still sporting the two loops reminiscent of bear ears. 

Scars litter her face, big and small. The most notable ones are a large vertical line that starts at the forehead, just barely misses her eye, and ends at her left cheek. Another three go across the right side of her face, just above the eye ending at her jaw, like a large animal took a swipe at her. Her nose is crooked, as if broken multiple times, and her upper lip is split open as well. 

“Ughh… my head…” Molly’s voice is rougher; she sounds more annoyed than anything. She stands up, a hand to the side of her head Zora shot. Her hands are covered by dark brown gloves, combined with the brown fur cloak. Her bare arms are not visible. A darker brown, almost black, furry neck collar of sorts makes it look as though she has a mane. A large gold U is stitched onto the chest of her cloak. Lighter brown, tan-ish coloured baggy pants with non-artificial rips in them are accompanied by brown boots shaped like paws with ‘claws’ attached. 

This older Molly, even on bent knees, is an intimidating height and size, as though someone drew a humanized grizzly bear. She’s probably taller than Zora in proper posture. Her right eye is slightly off color, lighter.

She rubs her head and turns to Zora with a snarl.

“Damnit Zora!” She growls, causing the bounty hunter to jump, looking genuinely nervous. “You turned me into a kid again, didn’t you?! Would you warn me next time? And stop shooting me to do it! It hurts--“ She spares a glance at Giovanni, Percy, and Ramsey. 

Her expression turns sour, more annoyed. She sighs, clearly frustrated. “And you did it, on a mission. Again. No one believes the hostage trick anymore, Zora! Nobody!” Molly throws her hands up as she lectures Zora. “And look at where it’s got you! Three against one, or… well… three against two now.” She flashes a toothy smile at Percy, Ramsey, and Giovanni. It’s not a nice one.

“What’s going on here?” Ramsey asks.

Molly responds by facing them, standing next to Zora without fear, she pounds her fists together. “What’s going? Well, the Salazar sisters are gonna beat your asses into the DIRT!”

“WHAT?!” Everyone else involved shouts in sync.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I’d like to thank Otherjazz for beta-ing this chapter for me!


	3. Not Wolverine

Zora doesn’t even get a chance to ask questions before the girl--Molly, was it?-- suddenly rushes forward.

‘Okay, my Epithet has never messed up like this before,’ the cowgirl thinks to herself as she sets her sight on the most dangerous of her three targets: the cop. Sure, Ramsey can turn himself to gold but he can’t hit her with an ungodly amount of flippin’ lightning! ‘I can work with this, at least for this battle.’

——-

Molly ignores Percy and Giovanni completely. Her hands glow slightly as she closes in on Ramsey. She pulls back her fist and hits the rat man right between the eyes. He doesn’t stagger. In fact he doesn’t move at all, as if Molly just tapped him lightly. 

Quickly, she swings her other fist out at whoever decided to sneak up on her: a pink haired man in a silly suit that seems… oddly nostalgic to her. He avoids her fist, and she notes that he looks weirdly concerned and confused. ‘Maybe the stupid hostage trick DID work this time…’ she thinks. 

Molly grabs his outstretched hand, as if he was reaching for her almost, and pulls him forward, smashing his forehead against hers. Her smile widens at the sound it makes, loud and commanding, the kind of sound that makes people shut up.

Unfortunately Giovanni doesn’t shut up. Instead, he grabs his head and starts cursing as he staggers back. Suddenly, gold arms wrap around Molly from behind, locking her in place. ‘Shit! I didn’t give that guy an order!’

“Zora! What the hell?! You’re supposed to cover me!” she yells out. To her surprise Zora isn’t even keeping an eye on her, instead engaged with a cop. ‘The hell?! What’s with her? Normally we’re more in sync…’ Molly kicks wildly and struggles, snarling like a caged animal.

“Beartrap, calm down!” Giovanni pleas to her. “It’s me, your boss!” 

“...Boss?” Molly’s eyes widen, and she freezes. ‘Why is that nickname familiar? Boss, Boss… I never called anyone boss--yellow uniform, pink hair— wait, that uniform! I’ve seen it before but where-where-where-‘

“Is she calm now? Should I let her go?” the gerbil-faced man asks Giovanni.

“Yeah… it’s you…” Molly fakes a smile, forces herself to look soft and calm. She can worry about memories later; for now she has to work with what she’s got.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out and fix you,” Giovanni says, before nodding to Ramsey to let go of Molly.

Swift as a bullet, Molly slams her elbow into the man's stomach, and when he doubles over she presses her hand on his head, a soft green glow flows from her hand to his entire body. “You’re a stupid Dodo!” she speaks as fast as she can.

Ramsey tucked his arms to his side and began to hop around making bird noises. ‘That’s one down…’ Molly thinks to herself.

“Beartrap, Ramsey’s on our side!” Giovanni squawks in surprise. Molly only smiles as she flips a switch on the palm of both of her gloves. Five sharp steel claws emerge from the fingertips of each of her gloves. 

“Sorry, ‘boss,’” she says in a mocking tone, taking joy in the fear in the annoyingly nostalgic man’s eyes. “But I think you’ve got me confused with someone else. I like the nickname though.”

——-

Percy and Zora find themselves stuck in a sort of stalemate, two wizard towers preventing any bullets from hitting their targets. Zora keeps enough distance from them to avoid getting zapped, and Percy only has a close range sword to work with. It’s evident that the cop is rather low on stamina from how she holds herself, so it’s not like she can make anything else to give her the upper hand.

“Turn her back!” Percy yells, the most emotional Zora’s ever seen her. “You turn that poor girl back to normal this instant, you-you false cowboy!”

Zora stiffens, lowering her guns as she gives Percy a death stare. “What,” she grinds out through clenched teeth. “Did you just call me?” An aura of certain death surrounds her.

“A false cowboy…?” This time Percy speaks with a much less confident tone. ‘I’ve messed up, haven’t I?’ she thinks to herself.

“You. Are so DEAD!” Zora summons two sundials around Percy’s wizard towers, rapidly turning them to rubble before she rushes forward, aiming her gun at the stupid cop’s head.

Percy shoddily erects a smaller wizard tower between her and Zora. It lets out sparks of electricity uncontrollably. Zora curses, but figures her bullet will be faster than Percy’s commands-

An agonized cry rips through the air. Both of the women turn to the source. 

Ramsey is hopping around stupidly, while Giovanni grasps his side, hunched over as blood flows from large wounds. 

“Ramsey!? Giovanni!” Percy calls out in concern, and it’s all Molly needs to successfully rush her.

Molly destroys the shitty tower with a single punch. “Zora what is WRONG WITH YOU TODAY?!” she roars. 

“Wha?! The hell are ya going on about?!” Zora hisses, jumping to the side as she fires, all bullets hitting their stupid, blonde, zap-happy target. 

“I almost got taken down by those other two! You’re supposed to watch my back!” Molly fires back, attempting to skewer Percy on her claws. “Not lose your mind over some dumb shit and charge the one person who can send you to the ground in a single hit!”

Percy uses her sword to intercept Molly’s attack. “Molly, please listen to me! I’m not the bad guy here, Zora is!” She tries to get through to the girl, only to be rewarded with a kick to the stomach.

“W-whatever!” Zora huffs. “It worked out in the end, let’s just get out of here before these guys recover.”

Molly looks at Zora, shocked. “Seriously? We’re… just gonna leave them?” When Zora nods, she shrugs. “Okay, fine by me. You’ve got some explaining to do anyways.”

“Molly… Wait...” Percy tries to reach for the girl, only to get hit with three more bullets, sending her to the ground. 

“Put a sock in it!” Zora growls before she and Molly run off. The only evidence to where they went were droplets of Giovanni’s blood on the ground, dripping from Molly’s claws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to OtherJazz for beta-ing for me, this story wouldn’t be nearly as good without your help~


	4. Listen I Know It’s Based In America

“Giovanni, we can wait until you’re doing better, if that would help.” Percy speaks to the young man sitting in the hospital bed. Giovanni looks... deeply troubled. And Percy doesn’t blame him.hough she wants answers so they could find Molly, it’s no good forcing it out of someone who could barely keep themself together.

“Wha-no!” Giovanni turns to look at Percy quickly. “I-I can do this, I just…” 

‘I just got attacked by someone I was supposed to protect, she’s with an evil murder bounty hunter, she’s 12 and now suddenly she’s an adult, she was so messed up, she tried to kill Percy, maybe she was trying to kill me too, she doesn’t remember me, I can’t do anything, I can’t do anything, what if I make things worse?!’

Percy shifts uncomfortably in her seat, reminding herself, silently, of the proper way to deal with someone in shock. No demanding answers, no unnecessary emotions, no stressing the victim out. It’s… hard to do that, always has been. At least for her.

“Beartrap-Molly wasn’t… exactly a hostage,” Giovanni finally says, nervous beyond belief because god forbid he ruin this little girl's life anymore than he already has. And maybe it’s the shock, maybe it’s the fear, maybe it’s the worry, maybe it’s all three and so much more, but Gio explains everything that really happened that fateful night at the museum.

It’s like a flood: once he starts speaking, he can’t seem to stop, and suddenly he’s crying and sucking in deep breaths to calm down but it’s. Not. Working! Which is stupid! Because he has to stay calm, he has to be in control, Beartrap is in danger!

His thoughts screech to a halt when Percy places an uncertain hand on his shoulder.

She gathers herself, because oh boy are these kind of situations hard for her, and speaks: “Thank you, Mr. Potage. I can assure you Molly will NOT be facing any criminal charges considering the situation. You’ve given me as much information as you could and it is indeed helpful.” She offers him a smile. “I promise you that I will retrieve Molly safe and sound, for now it’s best that you focus on yourself for the time being. You were seriously injured after all.”

“I can’t just sit in a hospital while Beartrap’s in danger! What kind of boss does that?!” Giovanni sniffles.

“The kind who has ensured that others are capable of finding and protecting their charge.” Percy says. “Though, I suppose there is… one more thing you could do.”

Gio looks at her pitifully, and Percy is reminded that this isn’t some evil super villain, no matter how much he insists he is, no. He’s simply a misguided but extremely caring 19 year old who’s way over his head.

“As it turns out, this is the same hospital that Dr. Sylvester is in. From what you’ve told me, you two are familiar with each other. If that is the case, then perhaps you could speak to him and get his input on the situation, as I’m sure he would have some idea on how to deal with this situation.”

“.... yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” Giovanni smiles wobbly.

“Thank you. I’ll talk to the hospital staff to arrange things for the two of you to talk.” Percy sits up. “In the meantime, my partner and I shall inform Molly’s family about the incident and then attempt to track down Zora.”

Giovanni bites his lip. There’s a LOT he wants to say about Molly’s family, like how it probably isn’t worth it to tell them what’s going on because they won’t care, but he holds his tongue. It’s gotta happen anyways and maybe if a cop sees how bad the situation is at home, Molly won’t have to deal with it once she’s back.

“Keep me updated,” he calls out as Percy leaves the room.

“I will update you as much as I am legally allowed, citizen,” she replies.

Giovanni finds himself smiling, despite the fact that the painkillers are starting to wear off. ‘This lady’s pretty cool for a cop.’

———

“Perc, you’re gonna break the steering wheel if you keep holding it this tight.” Ramsey eyes his… friend? Yeah friend, and also work partner? Nervously. ‘Don’t think I’ve ever seen her this stressed,’ he thinks.

Honest to god, Percy looks like a mess. Her hair is messy from the, what, five thousand times she’s run her hand through it. Any second now her lip is gonna start bleeding from how hard she’s biting it. She’s all tense, sweating. It’s awful. Totally un-Percy.

“That’s silly, Ramsey, I am not physically strong enough to do that, especially with my low stamina.” Her voice doesn’t have its usual… Percy-ness? 

“There’s a drive-in place right there-“

“No need, I will be fine. We need to alert Molly’s family of the situation as soon as possible.”

And yet she says that like she feels it’s a waste of time. Ramsey doesn’t blame her though. After she told him about the situation, he feels the same. He means, they didn’t notice the kid not coming home from a field trip the dad was chaperoning, for crying out loud!

He sighs, pinching his forehead. “How about I go in and explain what’s up to them? You stay in the car, okay?”

“It’s my job-“

“Perc, I mean this in a caring friendly way, but you look like shit and I’m worried you won’t make it to the door before you pass out. I’ll go in while you go grab something to eat.” Ramsey doesn’t leave room to argue. 

“.... Very well, I will go to the nearest Tom Hortens. Do you want anything?” Percy asks.

They round the corner and slow down as the store comes into view.

“Hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll,” Ramsey replies, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“That’s not exactly healthy…” Percy reprimands as her partner exits the car.

“Neither is only having water and bread for breakfast!” Ramsey calls back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you OtherJazz for Beta-ing! And thanks to all of you readers! You inspire me to keep going!


	5. Meet Me In The Denny’s Parking Lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Zora go to Denny’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry for the long wait and short chapter you guys, I got a bad case of writers block and got into new fandoms and got distracted. But I’m back now, unfortunately my beta-reader is gone now, I don’t know what happened, they just deleted their discord account, so my writing isn’t going to be as good as it was in the previous chapters. I hope it’s still enjoyable to read.
> 
> From now on I’ll be posting short chapters for the most part. That way I can give y’all more content quicker.

Molly and Zora sit together in a secluded part of a diner in the lesser traveled part of Sweet Jazz City, neither of them are really hungry, Molly only orders pancakes so the owner won’t kick them out.

As she pokes at the uneaten food with a plastic fork, she continues to stare at Zora with an unamused expression, not uttering a single word. It’s awkward, and unnerving. 

“Mind explainin’ the nonsense ya were spewin’ back in the park?” Zora asks, she’s not going to be intimidated by this punk.

Molly glares at her and stabs her fork into her food, a clear sign of anger and frustration. “Why don’t you go first?” Her voice is cold. “How come that cop looked so young, did you use your epithet on her? And what was with your reaction to me calling us sisters?” The fork squeaks against the plate. “Well, Zora?”

“Imma be honest kid, Ah have no idea who ya are or what ya were talkin’ about back at the park.” Zora admits, lying would only make things worse in a situation like this. “Ah aged ya up ta make the fight fair, didn’t expect ya ta ally up with me.”

“That’s… odd. I’ve seen you age people up before, and they never got new memories or forgot what had happened prior to being aged up.” Molly attempts to make sense of this. “But… you’ve only really aged up people that were adults, or close to being adults… how old did I look before you aged me?”

“‘Round ten, maybe ah year or two older.” Zora shrugs.

“.... That would explain why the cop was so young, and why you don’t seem to know me, I didn’t meet you until I was 13 or so…” The younger girl doesn’t look any less pleased at this discovery. “Maybe because I was so young… and you aged me up so much, I created memories to make up for the missing time? But… I didn’t know you OR Bliss Ocean back then, so why would my brain create memories centred around you…”

“How exactly do ya know me?” Zora asks. She finds herself genuinely curious, looking at Molly as she is, there’s obvious signs that the cowgirl had a major influence on her.

Hurt flashes on Molly’s eyes for a split second, she looks away. “I joined Bliss Ocean and they assigned you as my mentor… I… I learned a lot from you, a lot ABOUT you, and you learned a lot about me… you… we bonded, I didn’t have a family… only Bliss Ocean… you weren’t just like a sister to me, you were my sister.” She admits, still not looking at Zora. “Forged paperwork and everything…”

That… is a tough pill to swallow. Her? Zora Salazar? Looking after a kid? Bonding with one? So much so that she made her her actual sister? That… that was crazy talk!

“You didn’t like me at first, it took a lot of time before we actually got along…” Molly says with a sigh, still not looking her ‘sister’ in the eye. “I know you aren’t MY Zora, I know that ‘my Zora’ probably doesn’t exist considering the situation…” She clenched her hands into fists underneath the table. “I know you’re a lone cowgirl, you don’t need anyone…”

“Git ta tha point.” Zora snaps, feeling a little weird at the sad look Molly gives her.

“I’m useful, my Epithet, it’s called Dumb, I can lessen blows, emotions, intelligence, I can even dumb down summons to nothing! Plus I’m a great close combat fighter, my battle style is designed to work off of what you lack, it’s what makes-made us the perfect team. I’m not expecting you to BE my Zora, I’m not delusional… but I want to help you, I want to know you.” She gives Zora a pleading look. “If you’d let me.”

Zora narrows her eyes with a frown. “Why?”

“Because you’re you, Zora Salazar… it doesn’t matter if you don’t remember me, or if my memories are fake, I’ll still follow you to the ends of the earth, I always will.”

“... Ya said ya know ah lot ‘bout me?” Molly nods. 

“Well, ah don’t really have a choice then, do ah? Ya know my weaknesses, can’t have ya tellin’ them to my enemies. And ya were pretty useful at tha park, so what the heck? Ya can stick around.” Zora smiles, it’s not an especially nice or comforting smile, but it’s a smile Molly knows.

“You won’t regret it Zora, I promise.” Molly smiles, the tension leaving her. 

Zora spits in her palm and extends it towards Molly, who copies her and shakes her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Otherjazz for Beta-ing this story for me! It’s thanks to them that I can confidentially post this story! 
> 
> EDIT: Otherjazz is no longer Beta-ing for me
> 
> I also want to thank you for reading my fic! I intend to finish it no matter what, so I hope you enjoy the story! Feel free to comment however you like, it can even be just keyboard smashes!


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